Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Save With Frequent Flier Miles Using The Right Tools, Attitude
Accumulating frequent flier miles seems to be the easy part of the deal. We fly. We get miles. They add up. However, when we look a bit closer we find there are rules, and that all miles are not equal. Once we get tens of thousands of miles on a given airline or alliance, however, the focus shifts to using them. And that's when life as a frequent flier can get difficult.A good first step is to decide if you even want to play the mileage game or not. Frequent travelers, for business or pleasure, may have an easier time of deciding while those who rarely fly anywhere might think there's no real point to it. Experts disagree.
Some do say frequent flier mileage programs are a scam. Consumer expert Christopher Elliott recently advised, "Remove all the frequent flier cards from your pocket. Grab a pair of scissors, cut the plastic into tiny little pieces and toss it in the trash," reports John DiScala on his JohnnyJet website.
"I couldn't disagree more," replies DiScala who travels over 150,000 miles a year on about 30 different airlines. "In fact, I say do the opposite. Travelers should sign up to as many reward programs as possible because it's basically free money if you play the game right."
Following that advice, or just falling into having loyalty accounts on a number of airlines, passengers find that figuring out which program to use for any given flight can be a chore. A new tool can help.
Milez.biz is a cross program comparison and calculation tool that can calculate redemption between any two destinations for over 70 different programs.
In reply to our story questioning "How Frequent Fliers Might Be Affected By Airline Merger," Philipp Gysling of Milez.biz writes, "for people wondering how the value of their miles may change post-merger, they can compare them now to see if they should try to cash some in."
Entering any two destinations along with a choice of frequent flier programs produces quick results starting with the lowest rate for award flights found in the selected system. You can also transfer rates and calculate the number of points needed to convert and transfer from a hotel or credit card program.
An info button brings some extra information about the program in question and a click on "Login" links directly to the frequent flier program's login page. Not a member? No problem, clicking "Apply" links to the frequent flier program's application page.
"Check Rates" links to the frequent flier programs own calculator or rates tables.
Better yet, if the frequent flier program being viewed is distance based and a connection is necessary, the calculator will finds the best connection, then calculates the flight distance through that connection.
Need additional incentive to invest a little time in knowing about frequent flier programs?
"I've taken hundreds of flights all around the world thanks to using my frequent flier miles," says DiScala, "including treating my parents first class to Europe on multiple occasions."
[Photo credit - Flickr user Slices of Light]
Milez.biz is a cross program comparison and calculation tool that can calculate redemption between any two destinations for over 70 different programs.
In reply to our story questioning "How Frequent Fliers Might Be Affected By Airline Merger," Philipp Gysling of Milez.biz writes, "for people wondering how the value of their miles may change post-merger, they can compare them now to see if they should try to cash some in."
Entering any two destinations along with a choice of frequent flier programs produces quick results starting with the lowest rate for award flights found in the selected system. You can also transfer rates and calculate the number of points needed to convert and transfer from a hotel or credit card program.
An info button brings some extra information about the program in question and a click on "Login" links directly to the frequent flier program's login page. Not a member? No problem, clicking "Apply" links to the frequent flier program's application page.
"Check Rates" links to the frequent flier programs own calculator or rates tables.
Better yet, if the frequent flier program being viewed is distance based and a connection is necessary, the calculator will finds the best connection, then calculates the flight distance through that connection.
Need additional incentive to invest a little time in knowing about frequent flier programs?
"I've taken hundreds of flights all around the world thanks to using my frequent flier miles," says DiScala, "including treating my parents first class to Europe on multiple occasions."
Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines, Budget Travel
Add your comments